Next month, Ooltewah’s Richards, Fowkes & Co. will become the first U.S. organ manufacturer to export a pipe organ to a London church.
It’s not just any church, either, but St. George’s in London’s Hanover Square, where “Messiah” composer George Frideric Handel attended.
“[Handel], being an organist in his day, and not many organs being around, probably played it,” said Bruce Fowkes, co-owner of the manufacturing firm. “It’s very unlikely that he wouldn’t have.”
Richards, Fowkes & Co. is building the organ to fit in the case originally installed in the church in 1725. New organs were installed, rebuilt or enhanced there in 1761, the early 1800s, 1864, 1894 and following a fire in 1896. The organ about to be replaced was built in 1972.
“It’s very unusual” to have to replace one so soon, Fowkes said. The era when it was made “was a period that was not very good” for English organ manufacturers.
The reason for the replacement, he said, is “a mechanical issue.”
In seeking a new instrument, St. George’s, according to Fowkes, used organ expert Ian Bell to conduct a search among manufacturers in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Canada and the United States. He also asked for recommendations from other organ experts, Fowkes said.
Organ consultant Jonathan Ambrosino of Boston suggested that the church — through Bell — check out organs made by Richards, Fowkes & Co. After Bell checked out Richards, Fowkes & Co. organs at the University of Tennessee, Duke University and elsewhere, the church chose the Old Lee Highway manufacturer.
Fowkes said countries often have “a national style of organs” and that the previous organs at St. George’s had been made in the English style.
“Here in the states,” he said, “we don’t have a national style as a result of the [many] eclectic nationalities.” So the church’s new organ, in the tradition of its manufacturer, will be “more northern European influenced.”
The organ case, according to Fowkes, is made of English brown oak and was created at the “height of classical organ building.”
“It’s quite a larger organ” for a noncathedral parish church, he said.
It was installed, according to information on the church website, by Gerald Smith, nephew of the builder of the St. Paul’s (London) Cathedral organ, Bernard Smith.
At the time of St. George’s 18th-century installation, it had 1,514 pipes but no pedals.
Handel, who composed “Messiah” in 1741, preferred to play the organ at St. Paul’s because it had pedals, Fowkes said.
But, certainly, he said, “he would have run over here to practice” on the St. George’s instrument. He also likely would have helped select the church’s first organist, Thomas Roseingrave, he said.
Fowkes said Richard, Fowkes & Co. has been building the new organ, which will have 47 stops and approximately 57 ranks, for a year and a half.
“It’s a bit of a coup,” he said of the company’s first overseas organ export. “We’re excited about it.”
Contact Clint Cooper at ccooper@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6497.